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Her daughter? “Did you say her daughter?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Mercy Raintree has a child?”
“Yes, my lord. A six-year-old.”
“And her husband?”
“I’ve found no evidence of a husband,” Horace said.
“Are you telling me that the Raintree princess gave birth to a bastard child?”
“It would seem so.”
“Who is the father?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hmm…”
“If you’d like, I can e-mail you the complete report.” Horace fidgeted nervously.
“Before the child was born, where was Mercy living? Who were her friends? And in what hospital was the child born?”
“There is no record of the child’s birth at any hospital. We assume she was born at home, at the sanctuary.” Horace swallowed hard. “Princess Mercy grew up at the home place, as did her brothers. She was home schooled. When she went away to college, several Raintree were sent with her, to protect her.”
“Protect her from what? From whom? The Raintree have not considered the Ansara a threat in two hundred years.”
“It is tradition that an underage princess has escorts. And just as with our empaths, any young Raintree empath must be protected from the outside world by others of her clan who can absorb the thoughts and feelings of humans before they reach the empath and flood her senses.”
“Yes, of course.” Cael’s mind went into overdrive, processing various tidbits of information. “Do you know of any time when the princess was out in the world on her own, say seven years ago, before she became the Guardian?”
“No, my lord, but if you wish, I can dig deeper and see if I can find out for you.”
“Dig deeper.”
Horace nodded.
“Are there any photographs of the child?”
“No, my lord.”
“What about a description?”
“No, but I can try to get that information, too, if you’d like.”
“Yes, do it.” When Horace started to get up, Cael motioned for him to sit. “Finish your drink before you leave, then let yourself out.”
Cael stood, crossed the room and opened the doors to the patio. Until only a few moments ago, he had believed there was no Raintree heir, that if all three royal siblings were killed before the great battle, there would be a fight among the royal cousins, each possibly claiming the throne. But now he knew that Princess Mercy had a daughter, a successor.
The child is a bastard.
No matter. She would not be the first bastard child to become a ruler. He, too, was a bastard, and one day he would be the Dranir.
Cael was uncertain why the news of Princess Mercy’s daughter concerned him so greatly. After all, the child would be killed along with her mother and uncles in The Battle that was to come. And once the Ansara took the sanctuary, they would prepare to go throughout the world and eliminate all Raintree everywhere.
Suddenly Cael heard a voice, as clearly as if someone were speaking nearby.
